Swablu Line/B2W2
Swablu and Altaria can both be found on Route 14 and at the Abundant Shrine. Altaria is also available in some areas of Victory Road. Unova is likely not the best region for Altaria to be in. It is just one generation too early for Mega Evolution, and late Unova loves Ice like few other regions do, if any at all. In addition to that, its coverage gets crippled by the lack of Dragon Claw and Earthquake, its main physical options, making Dragon Dance a lot less useful than it would otherwise be. Nevertheless, Altaria's defensive stats speak for themselves, and anything short of Ice coverage actually has a hard time threatening it. While not the most excellent dragon in the world, Altaria is still rather capable and will prove its worth in spite of the adverse circumstances, if given the chance to do so. Important Matchups - Challenge Mode = * Hugh (Undella Town): Altaria has a very good matchup against Hugh's team. Unfezant does not really hurt it a lot, and it resists the main STAB of everything else Hugh has. Fly provides all the coverage needed to win. * Zinzolin (Lacunosa Town, tag battle with Hugh): Altaria should by all means avoid the battlefield until Cryogonal exits the scene. Sneasel's lack of Ice STAB makes it non-threatening, and the Grunt's Poison Pokémon are not terribly strong for Altaria's bulk either way; wear down at will with Fly, but try to not waste any time setting up Dragon Dance, as it can backfire if there are still two Pokémon on the opposite end and they decide to gang up on Altaria. * Gym #7 - Drayden (Opelucid City, Dragon-type): Drayden's Pokémon only have Dragon Tail as their STAB move, which has negative priority; this constitutes a great advantage for Altaria, as it provides a workaround for its not over-the-top Speed. Dragon Pulse is a 2HKO against his every Pokémon, though beware that a critical Dragon Tail may kill Altaria, depending on its stats and which of Drayden's Pokémon is using it. As Altaria cannot fight all of Drayden's team because it would pile up damage easily, letting it fight Haxorus is probably the best idea; Haxorus will likely use Dragon Dance and then Dragon Tail, leaving itself open for two attacks (one if playing Set) and thus easy to defeat. * Zinzolin (Opelucid City): Avoid both Cryogonal like the plague, they have Ice Beam. Weavile's Ice Shard is not fun either, but its low base power may make it viable for Altaria to shoot a Fire Blast at it before switching out, since a single move is unlikely to kill Weavile. * Shadow (Opelucid City): Both of the Pawniard will go down to Fire Blast. For Absol, use something that can take it down in at most two hits, which Altaria cannot; otherwise, it will start spamming Swords Dance and annihilate the whole team. * Gym #8 - Marlon (Humilau City, Water-type): Carracosta's Rock Slide is beyond unpleasant, especially as it can set up with Shell Smash and annihilate everything it comes across; use a better suited teammate to fight it. Wailord and Mantine have Ice Beam, do not even let Altaria near them. Jellicent should be the least problematic of all. * Zinzolin (Plasma Frigate, tag battle with Hugh): Altaria can take hits very well, but not Ice hits. Do not use it until Zinzolin's Pokémon are all out. Weavile might be the exception, as it "only" has Ice Shard, but again, not the best option. * Zinzolin (Plasma Frigate): Unfortunately, the Ice is back and Altaria is still largely powerless against it. It may try to defeat Weavile with Fire Blast, but nothing more. * Colress (Plasma Frigate): Not a good time to make use of Dragon Dance, courtesy of the countless Steel-types. Altaria's job here is that of spamming Fire Blast against everything it can muster to fight, always keeping in mind that Fire Blast has imperfect accuracy. This is dangerous against Metang and Klinklang in particular, because the former can hit it with Rock Slide, and the latter can set up and sweep with Gear Grind. Use a Wide Lens if available. * Shadow battle #1 (Plasma Frigate): Altaria can sweep the Pawniard off their feet with Fire Blast, but should Dragon Dance a minimum of three times before fighting Absol, in order to safely OHKO with Fly. Absol can use Swords Dance, and that can quickly go south for the whole team with its Night Slash. * Shadow battle #2 (Plasma Frigate): Again, the Pawniard are not a problem. Banette will do a number with Shadow Claw, but less so than Absol would; Altaria should be safe, unless it is used carelessly when its health is low. * Shadow battle #3 (Plasma Frigate): This time, Fire Blast does its job very well against everything. * Black/White Kyurem (Giant Chasm): Do not. Despite the Ice moves being two-turn and thus avoidable with Fly, DragonBreath does over half from both Kyurem versions and will therefore kill with a critical hit. Altaria's prowess is nowhere near adequate to fight them, and there is simply no time to set up Dragon Dance. * Ghetsis (Giant Chasm): Altaria should, by all means, profit of Cofagrigus' relative harmlessness to set up six Dragon Dances and spam Fly until the end of time. All but Eelektross will be OHKOed by Fly at +6; Altaria can take a hit from Eelektross, unless it is too beaten up from the previous setup against Cofagrigus and/or multiple Special Defense drops have stacked from Shadow Ball and Psychic. Watch out for Toxicroak's Sucker Punch as well; it will not hurt much, but a low health Altaria may be finished off by it. * Hugh (Victory Road): Unfezant is not difficult after one Dragon Dance, as it will likely spam Swagger or use U-turn right away. Bouffalant's Head Charge is very strong; use Cotton Guard for support, so that only critical hits may kill. Remember to Dragon Dance as much as Altaria can before fighting the elemental monkey or the starter, especially Serperior and Samurott; Serperior's Coil is twice the issue for Altaria since it can only rely on Fly, and Samurott has Ice Beam. The elemental monkeys are not terribly strong, but their Speed and Rock Slide make an annoying pair. * Elite Four Shauntal (Pokémon League, Ghost-type): Altaria may either choose to spam Dragon Pulse (or Ice Beam, against Drifblim or Golurk) and defeat everything it can before healing or switching out, or attempt a Dragon Dance setup and then sweep the enemy team with Fly. There are no significant threats to its health, but Golurk's Heavy Slam starts off at a high base power, so it can put Altaria in danger when weakened, although it cannot kill from full health. Ice Beam carriers will benefit from holding the Expert Belt, which will guarantee the 2HKO against Golurk. * Elite Four Marshal (Pokémon League, Fighting-type): While annoying to set up against due to Rock Tomb, Throh is actually great for this purpose. Dragon Dance and Fly are big winners in this matchup, as they allow Altaria to sweep Marshal's team clean from +4 onwards (+3 not counting Lucario). Sawk does, however, have Sturdy, as well as Rock Slide; it may kill Altaria with a critical hit, so know that this is not an entirely risk-free course of action. * Elite Four Grimsley (Pokémon League, Dark-type): Liepard is relatively innocuous, thus an opportunity to set up Dragon Dance yet again. With a full +6 setup, Fly will OHKO everything on Marshal's team minus Bisharp, which is still only 2HKOed; Altaria can, however, stand a hit from it. * Elite Four Caitlin (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): Altaria should hand over Musharna and Gothitelle to a Pokémon that can KO it quickly, or their Charge Beam and Calm Mind respectively will become very troublesome for the whole team. It also needs to avoid Sigilyph's Ice Beam. Reuniclus should not be very difficult, and Metagross is rather doable with Flamethrower. * Champion Iris (Pokémon League, Dragon-type): Hydreigon can 2HKO Altaria with Dragon Pulse and outspeeds it, thus it should not be fought. So does Haxorus with Outrage, and its Focus Sash prevents Altaria from killing it altogether. Druddigon also OHKOs with Outrage and Archeops does with Stone Edge, while Lapras has Ice Beam. In short, keep Altaria out of this fight. * Post-Game: Keep using Altaria within reason, profiting of chances to Dragon Dance as needed. Altaria's only real enemies are Pokémon with Ice coverage, so it will not find a hard time surviving if kept away from them. }} Moves Swablu starts with Round, Natural Gift, Take Down and Refresh. It gets Mirror Move at level 34, which is nothing particularly amazing, like its base moves. After evolving into Altaria, it learns DragonBreath at level 35, but most importantly, gains access to Dragon Dance via the Move Reminder, which Altaria gets at level 34. Cotton Guard, at level 42, is very good if Altaria is built to run a defensive set, but keep the moveslot open otherwise; Dragon Pulse, at level 48, is the last level-up move worth keeping. After that, Altaria will only learn Perish Song at level 57 - good for heal-stalling, not much so otherwise - and then Sky Attack at level 64, for those who train that far, which has a lesser damage output than two turns of Fly. TM moves are the real wealth of this line. Altaria gets both physical and special options, making it a very versatile Pokémon; unfortunately, both Dragon Claw and Earthquake are postgame-exclusive, depriving Altaria of two of its best assets. Aside from Fly, or Aerial Ace for fans of accuracy over power who are also worried the enemy may set up while Altaria is in the air, Altaria can only really count Return as a viable physical move, which really says something. On the special side, it goes better: Ice Beam and Flamethrower are classics, or Fire Blast for those who prefer power over accuracy. Altaria can also run a support set with a combination of Cotton Guard and Toxic. Fortunately, Move Tutors give a better reason to be to this line, providing Outrage and Draco Meteor as its best available offensive options, as well as Roost for support; sadly, once again, Outrage is postgame-only. Teams with Speed problems may also benefit from running Tailwind. Recommended movesets: ''Physical (kind of): Dragon Dance, Fly, Ice Beam / Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse / Return'' ''Special: Dragon Pulse, Draco Meteor, Ice Beam, Flamethrower'' ''Support: Cotton Guard, Roost, Toxic, Dragon Pulse / Perish Song'' Recommended Teammates * Steel-types: There is no better companion for Altaria than a Steel-type, which resists all three of its weaknesses and can deliver super effective hits to the most glaring one. Altaria's typing is also perfect to pay back the favour, offering an immunity to Ground and resistances to both Fire and Fighting. There is little that remains uncovered on a team with Altaria and a Steel-type on board. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Lucario, Magnezone, Klinklang, Escavalier, Probopass, Aggron, Durant, Bisharp, Bronzong, Metagross * Fighting-types: If there are no Steel-types available, Fighting-types can do almost as well as compensation for two of Altaria's weaknesses. There are less Fighting-types in Unova than Steel-types, but the late game areas do have a high chance of Fighting-type catches, should the team remain uncovered against Rock and Ice moves for that long. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Emboar, Lucario, Conkeldurr, Scrafty, Heracross, Mienshao, Throh, Sawk Other Swablu's stats Altaria's stats * What Nature do I want? Literally any nature can work. Natures that lower Attack will favour special sets, whereas natures that lower Special Attack will favour physical sets. Speed-lowering natures can work well as physical or support. Natures that lower defenses will bite, but Altaria will still make it. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Right away, if not yet evolved. Swablu is caught at a level that is very close to evolution either way. * How good is the Swablu line in a Nuzlocke? It is not exceptional, but it is good. It can tank a great many enemies and wear them down over time. Altaria is more for patient players than for lovers of glass cannons, but it does its job well. Swablu's type matchups: * Weaknesses: Rock, Ice, Electric * Resistances: Bug, Grass * Immunities: Ground, Ghost * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Steel, Psychic, Dark, Dragon, Fire, Water, Fighting Altaria's type matchups: * Weaknesses: Rock, Dragon, Ice (x4) * Resistances: Bug, Fire, Water, Fighting, Grass (x0.25) * Immunities: Ground * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Steel, Psychic, Dark, Electric, Ghost Category:Black 2/White 2 Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses